The design goal of objects in a garden
is to draw attention to that space. This can be thought of as an invitation to use the
space around this object. To a certain extent it does not matter if the invitation is acted upon.
It will be in the mind's eye regardless. A garden bench can be seen as an imagined viewpoint even if it is
not often used. The mind's eye walks out the pathway to that bench and rests for a
moment. Unique Garden art can
give a garden whimsy or even a touch of class.
A birdhouse or bat-house can attract wildlife that will help keep the
insects at bay and fertilize the garden at the same time. It seems
like almost every time a bird takes flight it leaves a calling card
behind. My birdhouses often get several sets of tenants each
year. Titmice, violet green swallows, and house wrens are regularly
nest here. Nuttal's woodpeckers have been regular winter residents.
Build your garden around a theme such as butterflies. A butterfly
garden can include garden art as well as a variety of plant to feed
the local butterfly population.
An arbor can be a place to inspire memories
or a locus for future events, or just a quiet escape. A sense of solitude in a
chaotic world is immensely important for our sanity. Your yard will
seem much bigger if you look at it from a variety of vantages.
Having destinations away from the house will encourage you to use those viewpoints.
Framing a view with a rose covered arbor
can make that view much more interesting.
So you have some ideas about how
you want the garden to grow but you want to water it and don't know where to start.
Here are some thoughts on how to organize a garden around the water
requirements of the plants. It should provide some help in picking
an irrigation timer.
With a young landscape the greatest difficulty is to achieve three dimensionality.
Large plants are very expensive. A tuteur can provide a vertical accent while all of the
plants are young and short. It can provide support for fast growing annual vines such as Hyacinth Beans or Sweet
Peas or any number of perennial vines.
I regularly try to keep some elements of a prior garden when I rework a
landscape. It makes the new garden seem more established. In
only a couple of years a Belgian Fence can
be established to enclose a special section of the garden.
Create a water garden. The presence of water
is both a fascinating element as well as a calming one. The movement of the water
with its splash and sparkle and the noise that ensues are a great calming element for the healing garden. Calm water and the
reflections or the movement of fish and other living things drawn to the water bring
activity to what could be a static landscape.
Plant a lawn. Proper
installation techniques will make the result much more successful.
And it will be much easier to care for that lawn organically.
